Order selection and distribution systems often are part of material handling systems within warehouses. Order selection and distribution is the selective retrieval and packing of appropriate numbers and types of articles from a storage area to fill specific customer orders. Customer orders are received by warehouses in various forms such as through the mail, over the telephone, through the Internet, and the like. Once received by the warehouse, orders are usually represented by a list of stock keeping units (SKUs) or line items. The list specifies the type and quantity of each unit or article to be retrieved, along with other information such as the storage location, the scheduled picking period, the due date, the customer name and address, etc. To fill each customer order, material handling subsystems have been developed to select, retrieve, transport, check, pack, and ship articles associated with a selected order.
The selection and distribution capabilities of such material handling subsystems must keep up with demand for the ever-increasing variety of articles being made available to consumers. This ever-increasing demand is being encountered for articles such as pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, health and beauty aids, contact lenses, photographic films, automotive equipment, compact discs, audio and video cassettes, books, and many other consumer products. To keep up with this demand, warehouse material handling subsystems have been automated and, more particularly, are controlled by various computerized systems. For example, some material handling subsystems utilize automated picking stations that retrieve articles from designated storage locations and deposit the articles on a moving belt in groups corresponding to discrete orders. Systems of this type are concerned with grouping articles associated with the discrete orders, rather than putting the articles into a preselected sequence for packing.
Other systems pick and sort the articles into separate orders for delivery to the customer. Such systems have used individual trays to collect the articles associated with a particular order. The trays are designed to travel on a conveyor until they reach a designated unloading or packing location. Upon reaching the unloading location, the trays are removed from the conveyor so that the articles in the trays may be packed for delivery. Removing the trays and the articles is usually done manually, but in some cases is done by mechanical devices. Some of the mechanical devices tilt the trays so that the articles may slide or fall onto a work area for packing. Tilting the trays has proven to be only marginally effective because more often than not some of the articles remain in the tray after the tray has been tilted. The articles which remain must then be removed manually, which delays packing the order and increases the costs associated with the selection and distribution process.
Prior to the present invention, material handling subsystems for filling, sorting, and packaging orders have been maintained separately. Maintaining separate subsystems has required manufacturers to dedicate a significant amount of warehouse floor space for each subsystem. In addition, maintaining separate subsystems often results in higher costs associated with selecting and distributing articles for customer orders. The higher costs are ultimately passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices per article.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an integrated order selection and distribution system which streamlines the overall selection and distribution process of articles for a customer order.